Earlier this month ShopSavvy® began supporting QR Codes AKA 2D barcodes. ShopSavvy supports standard QR Code instructions including URL redirection, Phone Dialing, SMS Messaging and Contact Addition. Retailers, brands and advertisers can leverage ShopSavvy’s name recognition and installed base of users (more than 4.5 million as of January 2010) in their QR Code promotions and marketing. This is a FREE program designed as a win-win for marketers and ShopSavvy.
Simply overlay the ‘Scan with ShopSavvy’ badge on top of any QR Code and ShopSavvy users will be alerted that they can scan the code. Users who don’t have a reader are instructed to download our reader (for free) from the shopsavvy.mobi website. To use the ShopSavvy name and graphic you must receive permission (via email) which will not be unreasonably withheld (generally we just want to try to up-sell you). Just let us know how you plan to use our graphic and name and send it to sales@biggu.com.
While consumers will be able to leverage ShopSavvy they will ALSO be able to use ANY barcode scanner than supports QR Codes. LOTS of phones have the ability to scan 2D codes natively – your QR promotion will work on any of these devices unlike proprietary barcodes.
Options
custom download link, i.e. brand.com/shopsavvy (links to custom version of ShopSavvy with brand’s messaging in footer – 320×36px)
location aware QR Codes, i.e. we can report GPS (lat/long) to advertiser for each scan.
custom 1D programs, i.e. proprietary UPC/EAN codes linked to your actions (for agencies who wish to keep their programs proprietary).
We thought it would be fun to start doing a video series called ‘Will it Scan’ (an homage of sorts to Will it Blend). Jake and Brad put on their custom ShopSavvy lab coats and recorded the first episode in ONE take. In our first episode we scan six common household items – the point of the demo is to show that, yes they will scan, but maybe you shouldn’t be scanning low value items. The best use of ShopSavvy is for books, dvds, games and electronics – items with lots of price variations between local retailers. We are still trying to come up with a theme song and next time we will try to cut it a little shorter. Let us know what you think:
I spent the last week at CES talking about ShopSavvy and checking out all of the cool new gadgets our users will be scanning. We demo’ed our two new ShopSavvy features including QR Code scanning support and Augmented Reality product and retailer search (we call it ‘product radar’). Everyone thought the augmented reality feature was cool, but I was really surprised by the number of meaningful conversations focused around QR Codes. Publishers, retailers and manufacturers all wanted to talk about how we could help them leverage QR Codes.
While at the event I carried my Nexus One and almost everyone had to check it out. Hanging out at the LG Booth I was uber-impressed by the 6.9mm thick (or thin) LED television (picture below), but the LG rep just wanted to play with the active wallpaper on my phone. Of course, this was just part of the story. The biggest ‘buzz’ after you tried out four or five of the 3D televisions was all about Android. Scott Fulton wrote about the ‘android buzz’ suggesting, “Android has emerged from CES 2010 as the software platform story of the year.“ Android was at the heart of so many of the coolest new gadgets I lost count. Some of the more exciting Android-based gadgets included Motorola’s Backflip and the Alex e-reader. The Android-based gadgets spanned segments including automotive, home theater and games. Android was the ‘Intel inside’ of LOTS of devices.
You would be surprised by the number of barcode scans we see for beer, wine and spirits. Thousands per day, but sadly we have VERY few prices (local or online) for alcohol. Are you a retailer who carries alcohol? Want exposure to millions of American shoppers who drink? Give us an API to your pricing and we will send our potentially intoxicated users to you. Email sales@biggu.com ASAP.
Update: More than a few (maybe 10) online spirits retailers contacted me about including their products in ShopSavvy. Thanks! But we still need local retailers in the system. If you know of a local retailer suggest to them that they should be in ShopSavvy…
It has been an amazing year for Android and the Android version of ShopSavvy. Of course we owe a LOT to our partners including Google, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Some of you have suggested we might be focusing too much on the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. Sadly we HAVE been spending a little too much time on it. We are still in our ‘beta’ phase on iPhone (our long term Android users will remember that we went through a ‘beta’ phase on Android too) – we should be stable and fast sometime in January. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that we haven’t been ignoring the Android version of ShopSavvy! Say hello to ShopSavvy 3.6 for Android (available in market sometime today). Here are some of the changes in 3.6
QR Code Support - supporting ALL QR codes including URL redirect, contact, phone number, sms, new app install AND Google’s Favorite Places Stickers
Bug Fix- common Force Close Issue should be gone (other Android developers with same problem should email support@biggu.com to learn how to stop force close from happening when users update apps)
Logo Clean Up – standardized on new ShopSavvy icon (sticker with curled edge, read more here)
Internal UI polish – including use of new icons inside of ShopSavvy
Previously I have written about why we didn’t support QR codes. Recently Google announced their Google Favorite Places program whereby Google mailed QR code window stickers to something like 190,000 local retailers. These QR codes are tied to Google local search feature and allows the retailer to include coupons and special offers to users who scan the codes. In light of this new feature and its connection to retail shopping we decided it was time to support QR code scanning. ShopSavvy will now scan all 1D and 2D barcodes. Try scanning the code to the right (it is my contact info) and feel free to let me know how you like the new changes in ShopSavvy for Android. Oh and have a Happy New Year!
Update: Several of you have asked about QR code support in the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. The quick answer it is coming. The longer answer is that we don’t want to overcomplicate our release until we are out of our beta phase. Scanning speeds need to improve significantly. Additionally, it is much easier for us to include QR code scanning in phones that have auto-focus (i.e. 3GS) so it is likely that our first QR release will only support the 3GS and not legacy 3G/2G phones. I would look for a QR code release 30 days after a stable/fast ShopSavvy release on the iPhone. But fear not, we are moving in that direction (see picture).
Earlier this month ShopSavvy® began supporting QR Codes AKA 2D barcodes. ShopSavvy supports standard QR Code instructions including URL redirection, Phone Dialing, SMS Messaging and Contact Addition. Retailers, brands and advertisers can leverage ShopSavvy’s name recognition and installed base of users (more than 4.5 million as of January 2010) in their QR Code promotions and marketing. This is a FREE program designed as a win-win for marketers and ShopSavvy.
We thought it would be fun to start doing a video series called ‘Will it Scan’ (an homage of sorts to 
You would be surprised by the number of barcode scans we see for beer, wine and spirits. Thousands per day, but sadly we have VERY few prices (local or online) for alcohol. Are you a retailer who carries alcohol? Want exposure to millions of American shoppers who drink? Give us an API to your pricing and we will send our potentially intoxicated users to you. Email sales@biggu.com ASAP.
It has been an amazing year for Android and the Android version of ShopSavvy. Of course we owe a LOT to our partners including Google, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Some of you have suggested we might be focusing too much on the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. Sadly we HAVE been spending a little too much time on it. We are still in our ‘beta’ phase on iPhone (our long term Android users will remember that we went through a ‘beta’ phase on Android too) – we should be stable and fast sometime in January. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that we haven’t been ignoring the Android version of ShopSavvy! Say hello to 
Update: Several of you have asked about QR code support in the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. The quick answer it is coming. The longer answer is that we don’t want to overcomplicate our release until we are out of our beta phase. Scanning speeds need to improve significantly. Additionally, it is much easier for us to include QR code scanning in phones that have auto-focus (i.e. 3GS) so it is likely that our first QR release will only support the 3GS and not legacy 3G/2G phones. I would look for a QR code release 30 days after a stable/fast ShopSavvy release on the iPhone. But fear not, we are moving in that direction (see picture).
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